The Pillars of our Focus

To give structure to this far-reaching work and begin tackling these challenges, the Foundation has identified four areas of focus that include external and internal objectives:

1. People & Culture: This pillar supports the development and implementation of policies and practices to promote increased diversity and inclusion among our participants by elevating and celebrating diverse voices, backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences.
2. Programs: The program's pillar supports the design and implementation of inclusive programming, resources and, promotes adherence to gender equity and social inclusion, and engages staff with inclusive development expertise to ensure greater access and equity for historically excluded or disenfranchised youth populations.
3. Education: The Education pillar of our Foundation supports cultural competency, antiracism, equity, and inclusion within the organization participants.
4. Communications: With support from all staff, the Communications pillar co-leads work with to communicate the Foundation’s work and thought leadership with increased consideration and use of language and focus on diversity and inclusion.

                                         Youth Engagement

The Angels of Mercy Youth Foundation is committed to creating programs by, for, and with young people that will connect them with opportunities to transform their lives.

At AMYF, we believe young people everywhere possess dreams, ambitions, skills, experience, and the potential to develop themselves and their surrounding world.

We are committed to focus our work in three strategic areas to help further our mission:

• Increasing young people’s potential to be positive leaders in their communities.
• Expanding young people’s access to economic opportunities, and
• Transforming systems to become more responsive to—and inclusive of—young people.

HOW WILL THE ANGELS OF MERCY YOUTH FOUNDATION PROJECT TO FACILITATE MEANINGFUL YOUTH ENGAGEMENT?

Meaningful youth engagement is foundational to achieving results and therefore crosscuts each strategic area. Because of our pastoral experience in a diversity of communities, and a growing body of evidence, shows that engaging young people in meaningful ways leads to increased academic achievement, civic engagement, economic opportunity, healthy behaviors and more. 

At the Angels of Mercy Youth Foundation, we are committed to facilitate meaningful youth engagement projects, communities, and systems, and use an array of participatory mechanisms to promote participants’ leadership. The Foundation’s framework and approach is to be designed to account for this complexity and be as useful to educators and employers as it is for health workers, policymakers, extension agents, caretakers, and young people themselves.

GROUNDING PRINCIPLES